OTTUMWA —
Two problems may have one answer: not enough skilled workers to attract employers and students who don’t seem interested in finishing traditional high school classes.
State Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, and other dignitaries toured Indian Hills Community College with school president Jim Lindenmayer, Ann Aulwes, the dean of health occupations, and Tom Rubel, the dean of advanced technologies
They told their visitors IHCC works to be responsive to industry, which means talking to employers.
Aulwes said her department has partnered with dozens of hospitals and emergency service providers in an effort to find out what they need. “And how’s that working out?” asked Courtney.
“When I survey area hospitals, about 90 percent of their nurses are Indian Hills graduates,” Aulwes said.
The school trains students to meet the expectations of the people doing the hiring, Lindenmayer said.
“Cargill told us they needed bioprocessing technicians. We said tell us what one is, and we’ll work on it,” Lindenmayer said.
The result was the Bioprocess training center the school built in Eddyville. Nearly all of their students find employment with Cargill Eddyville or other Iowa bioprocessors.
“It’s difficult to attract employers [to a region] if they believe there won’t be enough of a workforce,” said Lindenmayer.
“Iowa is the only state that hasn’t doubled in size since 1900,” said Rubel.
School enrollment, added Lindenmayer, is trending downward.
Having kids drop out of school isn’t helping. Nationally, Lindenmayer claims, 90 percent of the prison population is made up of those who dropped out of high school. Many others are unemployed, he said.
“You’re going to cost our society a lot of money if you don’t have the skill set to take care of yourself,” Rubel added. “We want them to become taxpayers, not tax users.”
Now, in addition to working with employers, IHCC is working with area school districts to “dual enroll” at-risk kids into programs that may catch their interest. Students can receive both high school and college credit — plus a valuable skill, Lindenmayer said.
In fact, the Ottumwa school district is considering trading its current “alternative” high school on Gateway Drive for a new location at the airport campus, where class would be called the Accelerated College Career Academy. It would be right across from the Job Corps Center.
But even in the new career academies, Indian Hills will listen to industry, Lindenmayer said.
He said some non-traditional class programs go into a high school classroom and survey students for what interests them. If 78 kids raise their hand for “auto mechanic,” then that’s what the program becomes.
We handle it differently, Lindenmayer said. We survey local employers, the ones who need workers, and ask them what they are looking for. And that is what we make available.
Such thinking, the educators believe, can bring in more industry and stimulate economic development. Even the increase in workers staying in Iowa can increase the tax base.
“If we don’t train these kids for [available] jobs, the exodus is just going to continue,” Lindenmayer said.
Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mnewman@ottumwacourier.com
Local News
Related Photos
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State Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, tours Indian Hills Community College with college president Jim Lindenmayer Monday morning. Behind them is the under-construction Job Corps Center, part of the college’s plan to bring economic development to southeast Iowa. Mark Newman/The Courier
Tour of Indian Hills shows off economic development plan
School trains students to meet expectations of the people doing the hiring
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